BATHURST father and son David and Andrew Travis had some nervous moments during the 2016 Classic Outback Trial as they hit a tree and had a seal in their drive line fail, but they still managed to claim victory in Alice Springs on Friday.

While the event was not conducted last year, the Travis’ began the 2016 Classic Outback Trial as the number one seeds given they had won the 2014 edition in a 1971 Datsun 1600.

That added to their 2010 victory driving a 1972 Datsun 1600.

The Travis’, who also placed third in the 2013 Australasian Safari, picked up what one organiser labelled “an unthinkable third win” behind a wheel of a 1984 Nissan Gazelle on Friday afternoon.

Their overall time of eight hours, six minutes and 17 seconds gave them victory by 26 minutes and 54 seconds over another New South Wales crew in Andy Crane and David Anderson (8:33.11), who drove a 1970 Peugeot 504. 

Third belonged to Northern Territory duo Phillip Kerr and Jenny Cole (8:42.15) in a 1971 Datsun 1600.

It was a sweet victory for the pair given it took two years to ready their Nissan Gazelle – it only made its racing debut last November in the Alpine Rally of East Gippsland.

It needed body work repairs after they hit water on the second day of racing in Alice Springs and speared off the track into a tree.

Then on the penultimate day, the Travis’ overcame their drive line mechanical problem.

“[It’s] A fine line between driving fast enough to stay in touch and still have a car left with enough to battle it out on the last day if you need to,” Andrew Travis, who drove the Nissan, said.

While the father and son had previously raced in Alice Springs when contesting the Red Centre to Gold Coast event, this year’s Classic Outback Trial still presented a number of challenges.

After last Sunday’s opening day was washed-out, racing got underway on Monday. The Bathurst duo finished the opening day just over a minute behind the 1977 Datsun 200B of Neal Cuthbert and Sue Evans.

But late on Tuesday during special stage 17, Cuthbert and Evans made a navigational error which cost them 10 minutes. It gifted the Travis’ the lead and from that point on the duo built their advantage.

They finished Tuesday with a one minute and 19 seconds lead over Argentinian duo Jorge Perez Companc and Jose Volta, while on Wednesday evening their advantage stood at six minutes and eight seconds.

They made a good start to the penultimate day of racing as they were second fastest in the 121.74 kilometre Hayes Highway special stage, dropping just 13 seconds to Crane and Anderson.

“That is probably one of the best stages I have ever done in my life, but we’ve got a little bit of a diff issue, so hopefully we can keep going,” Andrew Travis said.

Keep going the duo did and by the end of the day a third victory looked within their reach as they extended their lead to almost 20 minutes over Crane and Anderson.

Still, co-driver David Travis was still cautious heading into the final four special stages which covered a competitive distance of 113km.

“Yes, we have done it a couple of times before, but it’s never comfortable,” he said of holding the lead heading into the final day of racing.

“There’s no such thing as safe, you’ve just got to try and do everything as well as you can and hope for the best.”

The Travis’ won the opening 62km Mount Benstead special stage on Friday morning, and while backing off a little in the next two legs, they finished with a bang.

The fittingly named 8.24km Fat Lady Sings stages to finish the event was won by the Bathurst duo.